the miraculous Mui Ne, and surprising Saigon...

If I've learned anything from this week, it's expect the unexpected. The end of my Vietnam journey was completely filled with pleasant and unpleasant surprises (but mostly pleasant):

Mui Ne

I almost didn't go to Mui Ne because it's a beach town and Typhoon Pakhar was still in full swing, so lots of my friends packed their things and headed straight to Saigon/Ho Chi Minh City instead. I still had high hopes that the weather would turn around at least one of the days i was visiting, so i gave it a shot.
Beyond all weather forecasts, my full 2 days in Mui Ne were hot, sunny skies - the biggest surprise. Turns out miracles do happen. I thought the weather itself would put me in a good mood, and spending an hour on the beach would be the icing on top, but what i wound up doing and seeing the rest of the day makes my time in Mui Ne rank probably in my top 3 favorite days of my entire trip. The people who went straight to Saigon seriously missed out.

Fairy River & Sand Dunes-
After a beautiful, sun-filled and sunkissed afternoon on the beach, my friends James and Cassie joined me on a jeep tour to visit Fairy River, a place like no other... i was blown away by the landscapes, i forgot i was in Vietnam. I didn't know where i was anymore, i lost sense of time and place. It was incredible, walking through a long pathway in incredibly shallow water (a sandy stream), as you walked past incredibly beautiful red sand dune and white rock formations, occasionally passing by some flowers and palm trees... Again, you'd never think you were in Vietnam. It's a site you can only fully absorb with your own eyes:

note the people in the middle for size reference...

That center blob is me climbing up

Fairy River definitely felt like some magical place, it's an oddly appropriate description and name for it. It didn't seem real, yet it was all natural. My jaw was to the floor nearly the whole time.
The only odd part of our Jeep tour was that our driver was insanely reckless, thought i was gonna die. Swerving around old ladies on their bicycles at the last second, screeching the wheels, speeding, he did it all. He got mad when we came back 5 minutes late. He had some serious anger issues.
Our next stop was the amazing white sand dunes, where i felt so small in comparison but so free in this giant open space, with a comforting calm and quiet in the air, watching the sun go down. Right before arriving at the sand dunes, there was "lily pond", a pond covered in lilies you couldn't even see the water. After this place we visited other red sand dunes and went sand boarding with these 2 little cambodian boys. Great time.

Lily Pond

We almost went Ostrich-riding, which you could do in Mui Ne. Unfortunately we didn't have the time but that would've been so weird an awesome !!!!!! The next day i left for saigon, but had the whole afternoon free before my bus, so i spent some more time on the beach again.... Mui Ne could not have been better. It was one of those extremely low-expectation destinations the same way Pai was, and it wound up being one of the best, also like Pai.



Saigon (Ho Chi Minh City)

What is with these horrible bus rides????? The company that i booked the hop on/off bus with wound up being one of the worst which i didn't realize until a week after i bought it, and i read tons of nightmare stories. I wound up on the same bus with the broken bathroom like last time, but this time the seat i so happened to choose SOAKED my jeanshorts with an unidentifiable liquid. I smelled the seat and could not tell if it was pee or mold. Either way, they're both bad.

Motorbike Muggers -
My first night in Saigon was enjoyed at a nightclub with tons of people i had met in Nha Trang, dancing the night away with other locals. But once I returned to my hostel with a friend after midnight, I was unsuccessfully mugged by 2 vietnamese men zooming on a motorbike down the alley. It was the most shaken up i've ever been...... i didn't even register they were trying to mug me until 15 seconds later, so i didn't even get a chance to yell out a proper profanity back at them. The 2 people working at the hostel were opening the door for us, when i saw this motorbike speeding down. I even moved out of the way because i thought they were driving too much in the center of the alley instead of off to the side away from us when all of a sudden i get SWUNG around with a huge tug on my camera/moneywallet, I get pulled backwards, downwards and sideways with the motorbike until i hear something snap, i catch my balance after a few seconds, the motorbike slows down, my friend asks me if i have everything, i look down and thankfully both my camera and wallet were still on me, but the camera strap on one side was yanked off. It managed to stay on me and not slide off my shoulder for various reasons that i am so thankful for. The people working at our hostel asked me if I was alright, and the next morning they put signs up for other travelers to be careful with their things after midnight.
I'm so so so so so so thankful that i still have both things and that the thugs didn't get away with anything, but the side of my camera is now broken. I thought, why me? I never actually thought i'd be a victim of something like that, it always just felt like some sort of precaution. I couldn't believe they tried stealing my belongings. I was so shaken up, so shocked and relieved that my camera, although dangling freely, was still in my possession...
Saigon has been crazy with mugging stories. I had one friend who 2 nights before I got there got confronted by 3 Vietnamese men in an alley with a knife, was forced to give them his credit card. He canceled it first thing in the morning, but it was too late, they had maxed it out already. It's ridiculous... I'd like to thank my good stars for still having my 2 most valuable possessions.

moments after we got back, took a picture of the broken strap

Bibi's dad -
The next morning after an extensively therapeutic journal entry about the previous night's mugging incident, was when I met up with my good high school friend's father, who i am very close with. He has taken me on several trips with Bibi in the past and has cared for me as if I were his own daughter, and i have lots of respect for him. I have known him for over 10 years now. He was in Saigon the same time i visited, and I let him know where I was staying. But i wasn't expecting him to show up at my hostel right away - a woman asked me to turn around and there he was. Mr. Tran! I was not prepared. Shocklingly, i cried when i saw his face in my hostel lobby. I wasn't even expecting myself to in the least bit, but tears of pure joy, warmth and relief just took over without warning after seeing that kind, familiar face of a father figure that i haven't had or seen to guide me in the last 2 and a half months..........it was a reunion of the familiar in the strongest form of trust, comfort and love, and so i cried. I hugged him 3, maybe 4 times, just euphoric.... Maybe it was the momentary comfort of seeing a caring father after i was a victim of attempted mugging the night before, completely shaken to the bone with fright and relief that myself, my money belt and camera all came home in one piece and that i had someone within reach to make me feel like everything would be ok. Bibi's dad was so kind and warm my entire time in Saigon, and i cannot thank him enough. The next few days consisted of daytime excursions with Bibi's dad, and nighttime festivities with the friends I made in Nha Trang/Saigon. Bibi's dad took me out to amazing specialty restaurants, and an AMERICAN COMFORT FOOD PLACE. First time all trip i've stuffed my face in lasagna, fetuccini alfredo and other goodies from home. i have been so good about only eating local food, he treated me with a taste of home, took me around some good sites, and i explored tons of museums and famous monuments. He spoke to me about his time here during the Vietnam war, he took me down the alley where he lived for 25 years, he bought me special tropical fruits, showed me around the city..... he was the best host i could have asked for.

Bibi's Bo!!!!!!!!!!! (bibi's dad)

Also, he randomly took me to a dentist (!?!?!) for free! I got a free check up and apparently i've developed a cavity during my trip, probably from the excessive oreos and ice cream i've bought at each bus pit stop. The doc gave me my first filling ever and i was good to go after 10 minutes. Getting a filling free of charge in Saigon, who would've thought...? So random.

Saigon nightlife -
Ah, I've had a good time here. tons of places with free pool tables, wild locals dancing freely, and a long road which is like the backpacker Khaosan Road in Bangkok but for Vietnam where tons of backpackers hang out on tiny plastic stools having some drinks and playing some card games. It was also my friend Patrick (who is also good friends with Ellie Benner from study abroad!! small world)'s birthday, which was celebrated with $0.50 beers out on the street yelling "YOOOO!" (Vietnamese "cheers"), cake, games, and eventually a bar with incredibly competitive rounds of pool... Also, i've learned that the locals are out of their mind and have more energy than 10 year old kids running around the house on sugar high's. These people can and are not afraid to grab you center stage to join them.

dancing with the crazy locals at Apocalypse Now, Saigon's popular bar

"Happy Birthday Trick!" - Patrick's birthday cake

being super asian

The War Museum -
This was an emotional visit, with photos documenting the ins and outs of the america/vietnam war. I learned so much here, really didn't know enough about the war before this trip. Things that really put the war into perspective were the images of riots and protests across the world against the US attacks. To be honest, i initially felt guilty being an American when seeing most of the things here. Did they really think that killing women and children, even newborns, would help prevent communism? I know there's so much more to it than that, but it was still sickening to me. There was one room in particular, which really moved me to tears. There were photographs of innocent Vietnamese people, captured on camera seconds before their deaths. One included a diptych of 2 little boys. The first, the boys are hunched lying on the ground dirt road, with the caption reading that the photographer said they appeared out of nowhere. The second, the caption reads that the photographer came back a few minutes after hearing gun shots, and the two young boys are found, shot at point blank numerously, with the older boy found on top of the smaller one as if to protect him. Well this is just where out of nowhere i started embarrassingly crying to the point where a foreigner came up to me and asked me if i was OK and needed any water. Things got worse as i continued down the gallery and found an extremely controversial shot of a cluster of Vietnamese women and terrified children, cradling around each other with mercy shining through their eyes -- intense eyes -- eyes filled with very little hope, filled with sadness and fear. The photographer said the US G.I.'s were right next to him and were pointing the guns at all of the Vietnamese when the photographer said, "Hold it!", snapped the picture, said "alright," and walked away. He then heard the shots fire, and did not look back. I cried more after seeing that one. The children clutching onto their mothers' pants, shoulders and necks scrunched inwards with their faces buried in their mothers' thighs, it is so tragic... Photographs and stories of all the agent orange victims were also horrific. This was a truly rough, but very necessary visit.


Cu Chi Tunnels -
Cu Chi tunnels were sort of an extension or part 2 to my visit at the war museum, and were really really interesting. I went with all my Nha Trang and Hoi An friends. Halfway through our bus journey there we stopped at a workshop where agent orange victims were making artwork for sale. This...was...incredible. It was amazing to see all these poor handicapped people, still thriving with talent and creating beautiful pieces of art i couldn't even begin to learn how to try. They were these gorgeous painted plaques made of lacquer, tar and paints, with imagery created with cracked egg shells and sand for texture, and a nice pollish over the finished piece. They were so amazing, i only wish i had the whole day to sit down with them all and learn the process so i could make some of my own. It was inspiring. Inspiring is even an understatement...

Once we got to the Cu Chi tunnels we watched a long video filmed in the 60s during the war, with actual footage of locals crawling through the tunnels, and history of the region. It really gave me a good perspective on how life was down there. Apparently in the years that they were used, 17 babies were born in them, and the longest people stayed in them without seeing daylight was 10 days. We were eventually shown around the area and our guides showed us real cu chi tunnel entrances, traps and hideaways, all exactly where they were. The booby traps the vietnamese made for the americans were horrendously brutal. We had the chance to actually try and go into one of the entrances, my first attempt at bravery, i volunteered first out of my friends:

byebye celine!

one of the traps Americans could fall in. He called this one the "BBQ" cause it's like you're on a skewer

Then we actually all went inside the caves. Tons of us passed on the opportunity, a few girls shuffling out after sticking their heads in and seeing the first 10 meters. There were exits at 20m, 40m, 60m and the final 100m. I couldn't believe myself, but i did the entire 100 meters. I was so proud !!!!! But also slightly disappointed, I thought they'd be incredibly difficult, with no elbow room and several panic attacks of being stuck in a really narrow ditch, none of that really happened. There were parts that got pretty narrow, but i wanted MORE! i really wanted to be scared so i'd have some excuse to face my fear. i can get pretty claustrophobic sometimes. But i managed to tackle this. I was also proud of myself because I heard from another group that only 3 boys went the whole 100m, while the other 17+ went for the earlier exits.

i couldn't get a true perspective of the size of these tunnels.. although this dude was over 6 ft tall

Also, our "lunch" for that day was exactly what the Vietnamese living in the Cu Chi tunnels every day ate. The Tapioca root. This is literally all we were given for lunch, with crumbled peanuts and ground pepper to dip them in. It makes sense that the Vietnamese were tiny enough to fit through the narrowest of tunnels and the Americans at the time could not. Eating this, going through the tunnels and being in the impenetrable forest made the experience all the more real. Not to mention there was a shooting range 100m away, which was pretty unsettling in my opinion. Tons of shots being fired in this area still filled with unexploded ordnance off the beaten track gave an overly familiar taste of the Cu Chi region's past...

Tapioca root, our lunch.. and the Cu Chi peoples' breakfast, lunch and dinner

Where I Am Now

CAMBODIA!!! It is officially the final leg of my trip. I stayed in Phnom Penh for a day and made my way to Siem Reap to visit Angkor Wat. I've visited the gripping killing fields and amazing Angkor Wat complex, I'll write more about Cambodia in my next entry, this one's been pretty packed. Can't believe i'll be home in less than 3 weeks...... I feel like time has accelerated so much since i've been gone. I cannot believe how much i've learned about this side of the world and myself. I've made tons of realizations and discoveries that looking back at myself my first week in Bangkok, I feel completely different now, who was that girl back in February? What was she expecting to get out of this trip?... tons of things at home also feel like distant memories, it feels like i've been gone for over 9 months, not 3. Can't wait to see how my final days here unfold... Cambodian New Year is this weekend, tons of water fights between the locals and the foreigners, and i'll be spending most of it on the beach. I've been convinced to go to Sihanoukville for it instead of Siem Reap, probably reuniting with several familiar faces... I don't want to leave!!